Lodi Unified appoints Freitas

LODI - The Lodi Unified school board seat no one seemed to want soon will belong to Ron Freitas of the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.

Roger Phillips

LODI - The Lodi Unified school board seat no one seemed to want soon will belong to Ron Freitas of the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.

Lodi Unified trustees voted unanimously during a brief special meeting Tuesday at the district office to appoint Freitas, 51, to the Area 6 seat, which will become vacant in December when Michael Abdallah's term expires. Abdallah is not seeking re-election, and during the summer no candidates filed to run for the seat in next week's election.

"I expect it to be a lot of work," Freitas said of his new position. "But I also believe it will be time well spent. I can think of no more worthwhile endeavor that affects so many lives in our community."

With no candidates choosing to run for the seat, Lodi Unified turned to Plan B. The district accepted applications for the position, with the filing deadline Monday afternoon.

Until Monday, when Freitas submitted his papers, no one had applied. When Monday's deadline passed, Freitas was the lone applicant and received his appointment Tuesday without competition.

Freitas, a past Lodi Unified parent who currently has a grandchild in the district, is the chief deputy district attorney overseeing the homicide and gang division. He has known Lodi Unified Trustee Ralph Womack, who heads the Operation Peacekeeper gang intervention program in Stockton, for about 15 years.

"He's a really solid individual," Womack said. "I'm just really glad to see that he applied. He's well respected in the criminal-justice system."

Freitas will join the board at a pivotal moment for California education, particularly if Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 education tax fails at the polls next week.

"It would sure be nice if we could wave a magic wand and get a million dollars," Freitas said.

Lodi Unified's Area 6 encompasses parts of north Stockton and south Lodi, and includes Elkhorn and Henderson schools as well as Ansel Adams, Larson, Mosher, Podesta Ranch and Westwood elementaries.

Lodi Unified school board races are conspicuously absent from next week's ballot. Area 2's Womack and Area 7 Trustee Joe Nava filed for re-election unopposed, and each was awarded his seat for another four years.

Trustee George Neely speculated that concerns about the economic challenges that soon may face school districts might have dissuaded some candidates from running for the board.

"There are a couple of ways of looking at this," Neely said. "First, you can say the current board is doing such a great job people want to just let it alone. The second is we've got so much trouble ahead if Prop. 30 fails that no one wants to touch it."